THE POOP SCOOP: Upcoming Kibbles!

🧟1990’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - UNCENSORED CUT on 4K SteelBook September 23 from Sony. It’s about damn time. Legendary make-up artist Tom Savini’s directorial debut is the underappreciated remake of George A. Romero’s seminal zombie film, Night of the Living Dead. Now available in 4K, with two versions, as well as gobs of new bonus features.

🤠THE UNHOLY TRINITY on Digital NOW, and Blu-ray DVD August 26. A tale of revenge, dark secrets, and buried treasures, the film is set against the turbulent backdrop of 1870s Montana. It picks up in the moments before the execution of Isaac Broadway, as he gives his estranged son, Henry, an impossible task: Murder the man who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit. Intent on fulfilling his promise, Henry travels to the remote town of Trinity, where an unexpected turn of events traps him in town and leaves him caught between Gabriel Dove, the town’s upstanding new sheriff, and a mysterious figure named St Christopher. Starring Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson.

🦸THUNDERBOLTS* on Digital NOW and 4K, Blu-ray & DVD July 29. Thunderbolts* turns up the heat this summer as it blasts onto digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home on July 1, before making its explosive entry on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 29. The Thunderbolts are The New Avengers, the ultimate surprise to both audiences and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine as this misfit team of burned assets rallies their powers and unites against all odds. Their namesake movie Thunderbolts* is an action-packed, international adventure, with audiences embracing the film’s super-powered humor and adrenaline. 

😺Oscar Winning FLOW on 4K, Blu-ray & DVD September 23 from Criterion Collection. A thrilling tale of friendship and survival that took indie animation to ecstatic new heights of ambition and imagination, this Academy Award–winning international sensation follows a courageous cat after its home is devastated by a great flood. 

🎸THIS IS SPINAL TAP Goes to 11 on 4K & Blu-ray September 16 from Criterion Collection. This Is Spinal Tap, now beautifully restored, Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) embark on their final American tour, with filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) capturing all the mishaps, creative tensions, dwindling crowds, and ill-fated drummers. 

🐶Wes Anderson’s ISLE OF DOGS on 4K September 30 from Criterion Collection. Wes Anderson conjures a dystopian future Japan in magical stop-motion. Innovatively blending English and Japanese dialogue through a cross-cultural voice cast that includes Bryan Cranston, Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Yoko Ono, and Koyu Rankin, this fable of loyalty and disobedience combines Anderson’s signature themes.

🙀FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES on Digital June 17, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD July 22 from Warner Bros. “Final Destination Bloodlines” is the newest chapter (and the great Tony Todd’s final role) in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise which takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice.

🐍COBRA Limited Edition 4K Coming July/22 from Arrow Video. The Limited Edition release features a brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original 35mm negative, and is packed with bonus content. 

😺THE WES ANDERSON ARCHIVE: 10 FILMS, 25 YEARS Coming to 4K & Blu-ray September 30 from Criterion Collection. This momentous twenty-disc collector’s set includes new 4K masters of the films, over twenty-five hours of special features, and ten illustrated books, presented in a deluxe clothbound edition.

Revisiting DEEP BLUE SEA in 4K

DEEP BLUE SEA Limited Edition (4K UHD) 

1999 / 105 min

From Arrow Video

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😺

My daughter, Lucy, loves sharks, which I like to think stems all the way back to when I introduced her to Jaws years ago. Like her old man, she can’t resist a good shark movie…or a bad one, for that matter, which we all know there’s an abundance of. 

Since she hadn’t yet seen 1999’s Deep Blue Sea, Lucy was more than happy to join me for this 4K review. The big difference now is she’s in college and has considerable knowledge of real sharks, having extensively studied and read a lot about them over the years (Like I said, she really does love them). So at one point, when the species of the sharks doing all the sharking are identified as Makos, Lucy asked me to pause the film to say real Makos don’t grow to be twenty feet. As sharks go, they are comparatively small. 

Did that factual faux pas dampen her enjoyment of the film? Not really. Since there’s never been 25-foot Great White either, it ain’t like Jaws was ever mistaken for a documentary, yet in my humble opinion, it’s the greatest movie of all time. But Lucy’s observation is indicative of Deep Blue Sea’s willingness to forego science and plausibility for the sake of entertainment. Besides, the average moviegoer couldn’t identify a Mako shark if it swam up and bit them in the ass.

Deep Blue Sea does have a bit of historical significance. First off, it was the first big budget Hollywood shark movie since Universal put their own franchise to rest (two movies later than they should have). Fans of fearsome fish also tend to claim it was the first good shark movie since Jaws, an argument I can't really refute, though “good” is a relative term. In terms of production values, cast (Samuel L. Jackson! Yay!) and overall sense of fun, it’s a very good movie indeed.

A Farewell to Arm.

And while the shadow of Jaws continues to loom large over the entire subgenre, I’ll suggest Deep Blue Sea has been pretty impactful in its own right, albeit more dubiously. The film’s premise is inherently ridiculous, that of researchers - led by Dr. Susan McCallister (Saffron Burrows) - seeking an Alzheimer's cure by genetically enlarging the brains of three sharks and extracting the cells. But they discover the hard way that this has rendered the sharks super intelligent (with the foresight to knock-out surveillance cameras) and more dangerous. As a storm rages on the surface, the sharks manage to flood the underwater facility, enabling them to stalk the cast through labs, corridors, elevators. 

Throwing caution to the wind on a grand scale - including the most memorable shark kill since Chrissie Watkins went skinnydipping - is ultimately what has endeared Deep Blue Sea to fans over the years. But it also opened the floodgates for a slew of subsequent (cheaper) shark flicks where, almost literally, anything goes. We’ve since been inundated by the likes of Sharknado, Bait, 2-Headed Shark Attack, Ghost Shark, Under Paris, Sky Sharks, Santa Jaws, Jurassic Shark, etc…you get the idea. In terms of wild premises, most of them owe a tip-of-the-fin to Deep Blue Sea’s audacious spirit.

And if you think that’s a stretch, wait’ll you get a load of the visual essay included on this 4K release, where film critic Trace Newman identifies numerous sexual Freudian metaphors in various scenes and plot elements. Like the movie itself, it’s outlandish, but certainly entertaining. In addition to a smattering of additional new and archival bonus features, this limited edition set from Arrow serves up another great restoration, with excellent video quality and two audio options, DTS HD-MA 5.1 and Dolby Atmos.

The film itself is certainly showing its age, particularly the clunky CGI. Additionally, I personally don't think it remains the best shark movie since Jaws (The Shallows or The Meg hold that distinction). But Deep Blue Sea is still a lot of silly fun and fans will probably get a kick out of this edition.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

FEATURETTES - From the Frying Pan Into the Studio Tanks is an interview with production designer William Sandell; When Sharks Attack is your basic making-of featurette; The Sharks of Deep Blue Sea focuses on the animatronic creatures themselves.

BENEATH THE SURFACE - Trace Newman offers a shockingly Freudian analysis of the film. I don’t know whether or not he’s actually serious, but it’s a real hoot.

3 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By podcaster Rebekah McKendry; 2) By co-screenwriter Duncan Kennedy; 3) By director Renny Harlin and Samuel L. Jackson.

DELETED SCENES - With optional commentary by director Renny Harlin.

2 STILL GALLERIES

TRAILER